OPINION

Smoke vs smog

I did chortle at Mr Cruikshank's complaint that the smoking room door in Chiang Mai being left open exposed passengers to "risks, including cancer".

Personally, I would have been complaining about the deadly, toxic fumes from the annual burning season being allowed into the smoking room.

Context needed

Re: "Thailand rejects ICJ jurisdiction", (BP, June 6).

Every day there is news about the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia. "Protect Thai sovereignty!" screams the headline and the PM. You can easily imagine the same thing happening (in reverse) in Cambodia. Thailand says, "Do not accept the International Court of Justice as an arbitrator!"

First, the Post needs to do a better job of explaining what this is all about. What is the earth-shattering significance of these 200 metres of land? Why should we care who owns the grass, or the trees, or even a temple as long as everyone is allowed to visit the area?

Second, when is the world (including Thailand) going to accept some better way than military force to resolve border disputes? First Russia, then Israel, and now Thailand is joining the chorus of militaristic nationalism.

Misguided order

Re: "PM wants standardised smoking areas at airports", (BP, June 5).

I want to point out that doing so will be dangerous to smokers and non-smokers and not cater to passenger needs.

There are three primary reasons why this proposed move poses dangers. First, evidence from studies of designated smoking rooms (DSRs) indicates that these rooms, regardless of their standardisation (likely including air conditioning and filtration), do not provide adequate protection from exposure to particles produced by burning cigarettes.

Thousands of chemicals are produced from smoking, and studies in Thailand show that high levels of these toxins and gases accumulate in enclosed areas. A 2013 study in Thailand, which led to the initial removal of smoking rooms in airports, showed the average PM 2.5 levels in DSRs and adjacent to them were 532.5 and 50.1 microgrammes per cubic metre, respectively, dangerously above the World Health Organization's standards for short-term exposures.

In addition, experts who have studied the ability of smoking rooms and areas to provide safe exposures have found that the only way to ensure safe air quality is to remove smoking from rooms and areas. ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, who design air conditioning, ventilation, and filtration systems, in 2023 noted that "The only means of avoiding health effects and eliminating indoor environmental tobacco smoke exposure is to ban all smoking activity inside and near buildings."

Finally, the lived experience of persons exposed to tobacco smoke, even when they are not smokers, shows that tobacco smoke exposure can cause harm and death. Many airline flight attendants, before smoking was banned on airplanes, suffered from respiratory diseases like asthma, COPD, and lung cancer. This also occurred among workers in restaurants and casinos, where they were exposed to high levels of tobacco smoke in their workplace.

The rejection of designated smoking rooms by the National Tobacco Control Committee is critical advice for a healthier and less costly result at Thai airports.